New polling from Ipsos last week exploring the public’s response to the King’s Speech showed that of the Prime Minister’s five missions for the new Labour Government, “Building an NHS fit for the future” is by some distance the most important as far as the British public are concerned.
So far, so predictable. But a month on from Labour’s landslide general election victory, what does the new government’s policy platform and initial rhetoric in office tell us about the immediate future for healthcare in the UK?
A new health secretary
Even Keir Starmer’s most generous supporters would concede that Labour’s pitch during the general election campaign wasn’t overburdened with stirring rhetoric and grand promises. Wes Streeting’s approach to the health brief, by contrast, has been conspicuous in its boldness.
The new Health Secretary has wasted no time in delivering his diagnosis on the NHS, announcing the day after the election that “from today, the policy of this department is that the NHS is broken”.
Streeting’s most urgent priority – and probably the most important metric on which his success or failure as Health Secretary will be judged by the public – tackling the record NHS waiting lists and reducing the current backlog of 7.6 million treatments.
Labour’s manifesto promised 40,000 more appointments every week by incentivizing out of hours work for existing staff and utilizing spare capacity in the independent sector. Asking more from NHS staff after years of crisis, including Covid, may prove to be a tall order, but the explicit willingness to engage the private sector to support the NHS marks a fundamental departure from previous Labour administrations.
The sheer scale of the challenge dictates that greater involvement of the private sector in the NHS is not only the logical choice, but perhaps the only realistic one open to Wes Streeting in the immediate term. It is nonetheless fraught with potential pitfalls and has attracted criticism and opposition from the Labour left.
For healthcare providers looking to play a role there are undoubtedly significant commercial opportunities on offer. But the Covid years should serve as a warning of the potential reputational traps that await and the need for a clear PR strategy to mitigate them.
NHS reform
While Labour’s immediate priority is to ‘stabilise the patient’, long term recovery through more fundamental reform of the NHS is also a must.
Going as far as perhaps any Labour politician might dare to do, Streeting has made clear that the days of Labour governments offering no-strings-attached budget increases for the NHS are over.
The Health Secretary has already ordered an independent investigation into the state of the NHS to serve as the basis of Labour’s 10-year plan for reform. Streeting has called for a “raw and frank assessment” that delivers “the hard truths”. We will know more in September when the report’s findings are delivered but the menu of items to address is more than likely to include stagnant NHS productivity, years of underinvestment in equipment and infrastructure, lack of bed capacity and the steady attrition of trained staff across the health service.
Prevention over intervention
One healthcare theme that has already shone through particularly strongly in Labour’s policy platform is an emphasis on a “prevention first” approach over intervention to tackle endemic health issues. The new government has subscribed to the view that investment in healthy lives will not only pay dividends in reducing pressures on the NHS but will also support the all important economic growth Labour is relying on to deliver the funds for its ambitious tax and spend plans.
The party’s manifesto committed to picking up the Conservatives’ plan to phase out smoking by banning younger generations from purchasing cigarettes. Also on the table is a move to ban junk food adverts before the 9pm watershed to tackle the soaring rates of obesity.
With reports this week that 18 months of junior doctor industrial action may be coming to a close off the back of an offer of a 22.3% pay rise, Wes Streeting looks close to clearing the first of many hurdles that await him as Health Secretary. Time will tell whether he is able to continue that success.
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